Hope
by stellaluna18
Summary: I gave Hope to Dúnedain, I have kept no Hope for myself... R


**Hope**  
by Black Wisteria

* * *

Day turned to twilight, black and purple swirling in the starless skies of Imladris.

Like the waning light of the Elves, the Evenstar.

The lady of Rivendell sat on a bench covered with clinging vines and moss. She sat there in tranquility. Young she was and yet not so. The braids of her dark hair were touched by no frost; The light of stars was in her bright eyes, gray as a cloudless night; yet queenly she looked, and thought and knowledge were in her glance, as of one who has known many things that the years bring. Above her brow her head was covered with a cap of silver lace netted with small gems, glittering white; but her soft grey raiment had no ornament save a girdle of leaves wrought in silver.

Yet her face was grim for all she thought of was her lover, the last heir of kings, Aragorn son of Arathorn.

Gazing at the skies, the lady's hand searched for the faint memory of a pendant that used to hang around her neck. The insignia of her immortality, given to a mere mortal.

She can vividly remember the day when her '_Estel_' left her with tears running down her fair face.

_"...Away from war, grief and death."_ He said to her with stern yet passionate eyes. 'Death' was that the single word that separates her from her hope? Her love?

There were moments that she would contemplate that being the wisest and blessed kin of all Middle-Earth, an Elf was a curse, a burden. She would rather spend her lifetime with a mortal she loves so dearly than face all of the ages alone in doubt and in darkness.

The silence was broken when an Elf entered her realm and bowed modestly in her presence and said "Lady _Undómiel_, Lord Elrond summons you."

"Thank you, you may return to your duties." She replied, still looking grave.

The Elf stood up and left Arwen. She on the other hand, slowly rose from her seat and melancholy walked to her father's chamber.

As Arwen entered her Ada's room, she saw her father upright near the ebony windowsill.

Elrond's room was scenic and opulent. The atmosphere of his chamber was serene. A painting hung on a wall. A regal ship going to the undying lands in the west, Valinor.

"Sail away to the west, my daughter!" Elrond exclaimed.

"_Ada_, my decision is final." She replied sternly.

"Do not linger in these lands for there is no hope for you here, only your untimely death." He answered in a rather furious voice.

"There is still hope." Arwen answered stubbornly.

"If Aragorn is made king, and all you've hope for comes true, you will still taste the bitterness of mortality." He retorted, eyes now fixed on her daughter.

A vision came before her. The lady saw herself, robed in a velvety black cloak. She was alongside with his lover.

Aragorn was laid in a cold stone structure. His life was drawn out of him.

Tears rolled down her fair face.

"_Ada_..." she uttered.

* * *

The lady mounted an ashen colored horse, wearing a sapphire colored robe. Her escorts guided her soundlessly to the Grey Havens. The lady knew nothing of the awakening hope that will soon change the course of Middle-Earth's future.

* * *

Aragorn woke up grasping his dagger, in an attack position. He breathed heavily while his messy raven black hair covered his face. His hands were now clasped in the silver and diamond decorated pendant that hung around his drenched neck.

"Arwen." he murmured to himself.

The stillness of time in his tent was interrupted when a man with a weary face entered his tent and uttered "Lord Aragorn, Theoden King wishes to see you in his pavilion."

Aragorn wordlessly stood up and followed the king's esquire.

* * *

As Aragorn entered Theoden's tent, he noticed a svelte figure in the corner of the king's pavilion. Robed entirely of black, he couldn't see his face. The man was quiet and immobile. Aragorn looked intently at the unknown visitor and prepared his sword for any danger that would likely occur.

"I'll leave you two now, Lord Aragorn." The King of the Mark said unusually.

Aragorn released his hand from his sword and wondered who his unknown visitor was. He drew near, but then he halted when the guest stood up and removed his heavy cloak.

"It can't be."

* * *

The Evenstar rode her white steed in a slow pace. Her people were not in a hurry for they valued their last hours in Middle-Earth. She stared vacantly at the empty space yearning for her '_Estel'_

In the midst of solemnity, a figure of a child caught her eyes. The scenery changed into a white hallway. Another figure emerged, this time a man. The child ran toward the man and he lifted the child to his strong arms.

"_Estel_."

Indeed, for it was Aragorn she saw, in a kingly garment. Aragorn and the child looked at her blissfully. Then she saw the boy, wearing a pendant. It was the same pendant she gave Aragorn during their parting.

She closed her eyes and as she gently opened them, tears fell down her pale cheek.

* * *

"My lady, are you alright?" An Elf asked.

Arwen did not answer. Instead, she turned around, going the opposite way. She hastened her pace going back to her father's land, Imladris.

"You have the gift of foresight. Tell me what you saw. You told me there was only death, but I saw life. I have seen it, _Ada_." Arwen said as she removed her cloak and walked towards her father,

"Aragorn will only bring death and sadness, my daughter." Elrond replied hastily.

Paying no heed to his father's words she said, now in a serious tone, "Give him the sword of the King."

"Arwen, It will not help him to fight this last battle."

"_Ada_." Arwen said in a pitiful voice.

Elrond looked at his daughter's eyes and left. Arwen was saddened by his father's actions. She sat there gloomily. The lady reached for a book placed in a cold slab. _The Lay of Leithein_, the song about Lúthien and Beren.

"Am I bold to choose the fate of Lúthien?" She asked herself.

"You are bolder than you have ever imagined." A voice said.

"_Ada_."

* * *

The two figures soundlessly walked through the hallway and reached the shrine of Elendil where the shards of Narsil lingered, touched not by time. The sword that cut the ring from the dark lord's hand.

"It is time." Arwen said to her father.

The lady gathered the shards of Narsil warily and gave it to her father.

"Renewed shall be blade that was broken," Elrond said.

"The crownless again shall be King." The Evenstar replied.

* * *

Nightfall came to Rivendell as a figure robed in black rode to a steed. The anonymous rider hurriedly dashed through the murky forest out of Imladris, never to be seen again.

* * *

"It can't be." Aragorn said, surprised to see not a man but a woman.

"_Elfstone_." She replied.

"Why have you come here?" he asked, looking at her gravely.

"To bring you something of great importance." She replied, looking at him with gladness.

"What did the lady brought unto me?" Aragorn asked curiously.

The lady reached for the package, wrapped in a black cloth. She removed it hastily and a shining blade emerged.

"The sword that was broken reforged. I name it Andúril, The Flame of the West." The Evenstar said humbly.

"_Onen i-Estel Edain._" Aragorn said looking at her fervently.

"_ú-chebin estel anim._" Arwen replied back.

Silence filled the air. As Arwen and Aragorn gazed into each other's eyes, The Evenstar felt a warm hand touching her pale cheek. Arwen caressed his hand and tears came flowing down her cheek.

"Weep not, Evenstar." He said to her hearteningly.

"I fear for your passing, not in darkness but to your eternal rest." She said woefully as she placed both of their hands to the cherished pendant that hung on the weathered ranger.

Aragorn dried her tears and said. "Even death cannot separate us. I do not desire glory nor honor if I should leave thee in desolation."

Arwen closed her eyes, tears erased from her fair face. Aragorn leaned closer and passionately kissed the fair lady.

The Evenstar smiled and knew that her hope would soon be the hope of all free peoples of Middle-Earth.


End file.
